Liberia maintains position as top-performing ship registry of 2020

Liberia has ended 2020 as the world’s fastest growing Flag State for the second year in a row. In late 2018 Liberia became the second largest Flag State in the world, and since then has continued to lead the world in fleet growth for two straight years, highlighted a release.

According to Clarkson’s World Fleet Monitor, from mid-December 2020 Liberia has outpaced all other Open Registries, having grown at 8.06%, and 13.8 million gross tons since January 2020. These numbers are also reflected in many of the leading shipping markets. Specifically, Liberia is the fastest growing flag in Greece (where it is also the largest Open Registry used by Greek shipping companies), Japan, China, Singapore and the United States.

Flag transfer tonnage accounted for 60% of Liberia’s growth in 2020, with owners looking to shift their tonnage from their existing Flag States. Liberia’s focus on top quality global service and savings on port dues in the major ports of the world has been an important part of supporting clients’ commercial operations. This has been a major advantage for containership owners, and those that trade on spot. Further attracting this influx of tonnage is the continued investment into Liberia’s high-tech systems and software, that are an additional value-add for Liberian-flagged operators, the release added.